Seven baby bison move into Golden Gate Park

The famous herd of bison in Golden Gate Park just got some fresh faces.

Seven baby bison from a Redding ranch arrived in San Francisco Monday night. All female and under six months old, the group is now in quarantine, getting ready for the permanent move to the bison paddock in a couple months.

One of seven new bison in quarantine. (Lance Iverson/The Chronicle)

The herd has been dwindling in recent months after twowere euthanized this summer. Just three females — two 29-year-olds and one 19-year-old — remain. (The average life expectancy is about 20, so these are senior citizens we’re talking about.)

“This is a really important feature in the park and makes Golden Gate Park incredibly unique and special,” said Recreation and Park Director Phil Ginsburg, who says the acquisition took two years. “Where else in the U.S. can you be exploring a major urban park and stumble upon a herd of bison?”

Six of the young’uns were purchased for $1,200 each, with the fundraising help of Assemblywoman Fiona Ma. The seventh was donated.

UC Regent Richard Blum — who bought his wife, then-Mayor Dianne Feinstein, bison as a 1984 birthday present — donated much of the $50,000 that went toward refurbishing the bison paddock.

The zoo will care for the animals. The Recreation and Park Department will also hold a naming contest for one of the baby bison.

Why are they all female?

“A lot of people said, ‘Stick a male in there, take care of it yourself,'” Ginsburg said. “When males and female are in the same confined space, sometimes there’s aggressive behavior — which is not what we want.”